Shai overcomes poor shooting to lead Thunder blowout over Wizards

WASHINGTON (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 16 of his 27 points from the foul line to overcome his worst shooting performance of the season and help the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 136-95 rout of the Washington Wizards on Sunday night.

Gilgeous-Alexander shot only 29.4% (5 of 17) from the floor over 30 minutes, well below his previous worst of 35% against San Antonio on Oct. 30.

But Gilgeous-Alexander's ability to draw fouls, combined with another strong showing by the NBA's best defense, lifted Western Conference-leading Oklahoma City to its largest margin of victory and sent NBA-worst Washington to its most lopsided defeat.

Aaron Wiggins added 23 points, Jalen Williams scored 17, and Isaiah Hartenstein had 10 points and 12 rebounds to help the Thunder improve to 2-1 on their four-game trip.

Corey Kispert scored 17 points for Washington, which became the NBA-high 17th opponent held under 100 points by the Thunder this season. Washington shot 33.7% from the floor and 19.6% from 3-point range.

Takeaways

Thunder: Gilgeous-Alexander had the luxury of sitting out the fourth quarter of consecutive games. His services also weren't needed in the final period after he scored 39 points on 15-of-21 shooting in Friday's 126-101 win at New York.

Wizards: Jordan Poole's failure to make a 3-pointer halted a 59-game run of consecutive games with at least one made 3, the longest such streak in franchise history.

Key moment

It was a one-possession game before Gilgeous-Alexander hit his only 3-pointer late in the first quarter. That was the start of a crushing 24-6 run that staked the Thunder to a 51-31 advantage by the middle of the second.

Key stat

The Wizards totaled only four more free-throw attempts (21) than Gilgeous-Alexander (17) during the first three quarters.

Up next

The Wizards host Minnesota on Monday, while the Thunder close their trip at Philadelphia on Tuesday.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba